Systems which are able to locate a stolen vehicle after reporting a theft are commercially available. Invariably in such systems, the effort to locate a stolen vehicle starts from a telephone call from the owner of the stolen vehicle to a control center which sends out a xe2x80x9cwhere are you located?xe2x80x9d message to a module which is already installed in the vehicle to be protected. The module, by using its capability as a transmitter sends out signals to the control center regarding its location by using the assistance of a global position sensor or the like. There are yet other systems, which can be installed on a controlled device, e.g., a vehicle, with the capability of turning on/off a power supply with the use of a remote command signal.
The present invention is directed to a two-way paging system which offers improved functions, including but not limited to tracking, remote control, and anti-theft, and includes certain functions not offered in prior art systems. The present inventive system can be used as a protective system for protecting automobiles against theft, but it has applications beyond automobile theft protection. Such applications include remote monitoring of a physical condition, global position sensing in conjunction with tracking, and telemetry or remote reading of a physical parameter.
If indeed, the protection system is installed on an automobile or a portable unit which is reportedly stolen, and a control center were to initiate a switch to shut off the automobile which may be in motion on a highway, the consequences and the resulting liability could be of paramount magnitude. The present invention addresses this issue by checking the motion status of the vehicle before turning off power supply to the vehicle. Also, in hitherto known protection systems or tracking systems which use a protection module, generally, a query has to be initiated by either the owner of the protection module, or the query has to be initiated by the control center. If neither of the two situations happens and the owner is not aware of an undesirable situation in which the (protection) module is placed, in the absence of the control center initiating an interrogation or a query, no corrective action can be taken. Such situations are overcome in the present invention. In its simplest form, the invention resides in a method of providing vehicle security by using a module installed in the vehicle, and sensing a safe condition to stop the vehicle after the vehicle is known to be misappropriated. An embodiment of the invention described hereinafter includes a control station which may communicate with a communications host, and an end user module which is installed in a unit to be protected/tracked/monitored/controlled, the end user module having functional capabilities depending on the desired application.
If the end user module is installed in a unit which is intended to be protected against theft, for instance, the module can include a gyration sensing unit or a motion sensor depending on a design choice and the specific application. A gyration sensing unit which can be incorporated into the protector can take the form of a sensor which generates a signal responsive to a non-linear arcuate movement of the sensor. Preferably, such a gyration sensing unit should function as desired, independent of the spatial orientation thereof. If a tracking function is desired, the protector module can be provided, for instance, with a global positioning system (GPS) receiver which can operate with an averaging unit which computes an average reading from several selected consecutive position readings for a stationary unit location. Such an averaging unit would be desirable to even out small inherent inaccuracies in GPS-type location readings.
A given control station or base station may be called upon to communicate with several modules remotely located in the field. In such a case, each module has to be identified. To this end, in the present invention, each module has its own inherent identification number, which is the module security ID. The module security ID is verified in this invention by the control station before acknowledging data received from the module. Even though the retention of the module security ID without erasure is dependent on the uninterrupted availability of electrical power (which may be battery power) for the module, means may be provided, placed preferably in the protector module, to resynchronize the security ID when the power is restored after a failure of power supply. Also, preferably any communications between the customer and the control station are authenticated and protected by encryption. Additionally, any communication stream between the module and the control station (or database therein) is protected. Also, preferably, as described hereinafter, a time-varying algorithm which changes the password, say once every sixty (60) seconds, is used to enhance security. The module, if installed to protect an automobile against theft, for example, is referred to herein as a protector module.
The protector module power supply can be AC or from a battery pack or from solar panels on the protector module where the module is exposed to light. Furthermore, where the control station is trying to send a message to a remotely-located module, and where the protector module is shielded temporarily from receiving the control station""s message, the present system can use its auto-recovery capability whereby the control station automatically tries to establish contact with the same protector module which was out of reach a short while ago. The protector module includes a suitable antenna (or antennae), as necessary, and may itself initiate contact with the control or base station when power is restored to the module or even otherwise, periodically as desired.
The present inventive system has various applications, which include, but are not limited to the following:
1. Theft control of automobiles and other valuable objects;
2. Remote lighting control or remote on/off control of an appliance or gadget;
3. Remote retrieval of information from a stolen laptop or computer;
4. Use as a modem;
5. Locate livestock or other animals which are suitably tagged;
6. Manage a heating system remotely;
7. Remote control of a manufacturing system from a control station without any control wiring from the control station; and
8. Track a customer""s status at a remote location.
9. Track a stolen object which has been removed to a remote location.
10. Turn off ignition to a stolen automobile remotely, after ensuring that it is safe to turn off ignition.
The end user module of the inventive system may include the following:
1. Two-way paging system, e.g., a SkyTelo(copyright) paging unit;
2. GPS receiver;
3. Microprocessor based interface and memory;
4. Power supply, with options as to the type of power supply;
5. Several input/output options, such as a motion detector, on/off switches, digital I/O, analog I/O, I/O expansion, bus, keypad, display (e.g., LCD), status indicators, and serial comport; and
6. Sensor options such as temperature, pressure, vibration, mechanical stress, expansion/contraction, noise level, and wind velocity.
In one aspect, the invention resides in a method of providing vehicle security by stopping the vehicle in the event of misappropriation comprising: determining that the vehicle has been misappropriated; sensing a condition of the vehicle to determine a safe condition for stopping the vehicle; and stopping the vehicle dependent on the sensed condition.
In another aspect, the invention provides a method of controlling a device from a control station comprising: providing a controller on the device having an identification code; at both the control station and the device controller, varying a security code for the module through a time varying algorithm applied to the identification code; communicating from the central station to the device controller, a security code being provided in the communication; and responding at the device controller only when the security code at the device controller matches the security code in the communication.
In another aspect, the invention provides a method and system for remotely protecting a vehicle against unauthorized movement, by using a control station and a protection module installed inside the vehicle, the control station and the protection module being capable of remote communication with each other, wherein the control station includes: electronics (i) for interrogating the protection module, (ii) for reading all signals including motion status signals sent by the protection module, (iii) for waiting until such time that a parked condition of the vehicle as sensed by the protector module is signaled by the protector to the control station, and (iv) for remotely incapacitating the vehicle by cutting off power supply thereto by a control signal from the control station through the protection module responsive to the vehicle being sensed to be in a parked condition; said protection module including: electronics to sense a motion condition and a parked condition of the vehicle and to send corresponding signals therefor to said control station; and circuitry to receive control signals from the control center to selectively turn off power to shut down the vehicle.
In another aspect, the invention resides in a method and system for remotely tracking a vehicle as to its location, comprising: an electrically powered remote module installed in the vehicle, said module including: electronics to communicate with a remote control station; a global position sensor (GPS); and a control circuit connected to the GPS and assisting the GPS to continually generate a GPS signal at predetermined time intervals without being interrogated and without being prompted; and a control station which is capable of remote two-way communication with the remote module and receives GPS information from said remote module to generate a log of the vehicle location over a period of time.
The invention, in another aspect, resides in an electrically powered module for installing in a vehicle for remotely protecting the vehicle, said module being capable of two-way communication with a central control station and comprising: a sensor for ascertaining a motion status of the vehicle including as to whether the vehicle is in motion or in a parked condition and for generating corresponding motion status signal; a transmitter/receiver for transmitting/receiving signals and information to/from said central control station; and an on/off switch controlled by electronics to incapacitate and turn off the vehicle in response to a control station signal and in response to the motion status parked condition signal by cutting off power supply to the vehicle when the vehicle is in a parked condition.
In yet another aspect, the invention provides a system for enabling protected two-way communication between a control station and at least one remotely located module, for initiating on/off control of and end user apparatus at the location of the module, said system having communication capability with a communications host which may be linked with a commercial satellite, said system comprising: a shareable control station having a database and including electronics to send/receive information to/from a communications host, said communications host performing two-way communication with said end user apparatus; at least one remotely located electrically powered module associated with a known end user and having an assigned unique identification number (ID), said module being mounted in said end user apparatus which is in the form of a vehicle which is to be selectively protected, tracked, and controlled by an on/off switch, said module including: (i) a circuit which generates a time-varying security code which changes at predetermined time intervals, the security code identifying the module and its end user owner; and (ii) electronics to send status and motion information signals from the module to the shareable control station; said shareable control station having circuitry to read said time varying security code and said status/motion information signals and send control signals to the remotely located module in response to the status/motion information signals to cause the vehicle to be turned on/shut off as desired.
In yet another aspect, the invention provides a system for enabling protected two-way communication between a control database and at least one remotely located module, said system having communication capability with a communications host which may be linked with a commercial satellite, said system comprising: a shareable control station having a database and including: electronics to send/receive information to/from a communications host and to encrypt/decrypt information while communicating with said communications host; at least one remotely located module which has an assigned unique identification number (ID) and is able to send/receive information to/from said communications host; circuitry in said control station to read and identify said unique identification number (ID) of said at least one module before accepting information from said module; and electronics in said module using a time varying algorithm to generate a changing password which changes at a controllable time interval, for enhancing security in communication with said at least one module; said module selectively including: a resynchronizing means to resynchronize the module ID at power restoration after a power loss to the module; a sensor to sense a physical condition parameter of said remotely located module to generate a signal to be sent to said control station; and means to selectively encrypt/decrypt information which is sent out from/received by said at least one module, while communicating with said control station.
In yet another aspect, the present invention provides a system for enabling protected two-way communication between a shareable control database and one or more remotely located protector modules, said system having communication capability with a communications host which is linked with a commercial satellite, said system comprising: a shareable base station control database including means to send and receive signals and information to and from a communications host; means to selectively encrypt and decrypt signals and information while communicating with said communications host; means to create, read, and modify an electronic identification number (EID) to be used for communications between the base station and each said protector module; means to read and identify a unique ID of each protector module before accepting signals or information from said each protector module; and means to automatically retry communicating with a selected protector module if it is sensed to be temporarily out of reach; each said remotely located protector module selectively including: means to hold in memory its unique ID, and means to resynchronize its ID after power restoration subsequent to a power failure; means to automatically initiate at least one signal communication from said each protector module to the shareable base station control database after each power restoration after interruption; sensor means to sense selectively a location, or a physical condition parameter of said each protector module as desired; access to power supply for operation of each protector module; antenna means for sending and receiving signals and information; and means to selectively encrypt and decrypt signals and information which are respectively sent out and received.
In a further aspect, the invention provides a system for supporting a protected two-way communication between a control station database and a selected one of a plurality of remotely located protector modules, said system having communications capability with a communications host which is linked with a satellite, said system being adapted to protect a remotely portable/movable unit against unauthorized movement or theft, said movable unit being fitted with one of said plurality of protector modules, said system comprising: a shareable control station database, including means to send/receive information to/from a communications host; means to encrypt/decrypt information while communicating with said communication host; and means to read and identify a unique identification number (ID) of said selected protector module, and a remotely located protector module which has an inherent assigned ID and including resynchronizing means to resynchronize said one protector module ID at power restoration after a power loss; a gyration sensor built into said one protector module, said gyration sensor generating a signal when said remote movable unit is picked up by an unauthorized person; means built into said one protector module to send a generated signal to said control station database; global position sensor means built into said one protector module; and means to selectively encrypt/decrypt signal information which is sent out from/received by said one protector module, whereby when said remote portable/movable unit is picked up and moved by an unauthorized person, said control station database is informed of the move, and a location of said remote portable/movable unit when moved can be tracked down by said control station database by reading signals from said global position sensor means.